LANCA (Loyal Wingman): Autonomous Collaboration Platform (ACP) [UK]
Last reviewed: 12th August 2025
Snapshot
Despite the cancellation of Project Mosquito in June 2022, the UK MoD and Royal Air Force (RAF) remained interested in acquiring a loyal wingman UAV. In October 2022, the MoD announced a successor to Mosquito, the Low-Cost Uncrewed Air Systems (LANCA Follow-On) project, which later became part of Tranche 2 of the RAF's Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACP) strategy.
In July 2025, the UK MoD published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) outlining its intention to engage with suppliers before launching a formal tender. Shephard forecasts that a procurement contract is possible but estimates a US$780 million contract for 120 units would not be awarded until at least 2029, based on the timeline of the PIN.
Summary
- Programme value:
- $780.0 million (Modelled)
- Units required:
- 120 (Estimated)
- Award year:
- 2029
- Status:
- Announced
- Type:
- Procurement - new
- Systems:
-
MQ-28A Ghost Bat - Potential
X-61A Gremlin - Potential
Fury - Potential
Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) - Potential
- Unit cost:
- $5.2 million (Modelled)
- PGO:
- 50% ?
Summary
- Programme value:
- $780.0 million (Modelled)
- Units required:
- 120 (Estimated)
- Award year:
- 2029
- Status:
- Announced
- Type:
- Procurement - new
- Systems:
-
MQ-28A Ghost Bat - Potential
X-61A Gremlin - Potential
Fury - Potential
Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) - Potential
- Unit cost:
- $5.2 million (Modelled)
- PGO:
- 50% ?
Bids and suppliers
Boeing Defence Australia - MQ-28A Ghost Bat - AUSTRALIA
Potential
Dynetics & Kratos - X-61A Gremlin - USA
Potential
Anduril & Rheinmetall - Fury - Germany
Potential
BAE Systems - Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) - UK
Potential
Leonardo UK - TBC - UK
Potential
Additional Information
Background
Project Mosquito & Cancellation
Beginning in 2019, the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), in collaboration with the Royal Air Force (RAF), began the development programme for a new low-cost UAS’ Loyal Wingman’ concept called the Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA). The project later became known as Project Mosquito.
However, on 24 June 2022, the MoD published a statement announcing that Project Mosquito would “not proceed beyond the design phase”. According to the statement, the decision, which was taken by mutual agreement with industry partners, followed a detailed review of the technical demonstrator and the LANCA programme.
Remaining Desire & Follow-On Effort
Despite the cancelled programme, the RAF still desires to design, develop, and operate loyal wingmen or uncrewed adjunct aircraft. The MoD expressed this desire in its statement, which announced the programme’s cancellation, and by Wg Cdr Colin Welsh, head of military systems in the Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO), who spoke to Shephard in July 2022.
Due to this remaining desire, speaking ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow 2022 to Janes, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshall Sir Mike Wigston, said that a new effort would be launched in Q3 2022, which would see the RAF take LANCA in another direction. As promised, on 31 October 2022, the MoD announced a successor, the Low-Cost Uncrewed Air Systems (LANCA Follow-On) project. The project began with an industry engagement event on 29 November that informed participants of the MoD’s needs in the uncrewed air domain.
Autonomous Collaboration Platform (ACP) Strategy
In March 2024, the RAF released its Autonomous Collaboration Platform (ACP) Strategy, which set out how UAVs will be introduced into frontline service over the next decade. On 2 May 2025, the RAF announced it had introduced StormShroud into service, the first of the family of ACPs.
The ACP strategy implemented a tiered system for its drone classification, with post-Mosquito efforts falling into the Tier 2 (or Tranche 2) category, with the Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton describing these systems as “attritable”, providing “key operational capabilities, which, if lost, won’t change the way [the RAF] fight.”
The ACP strategy also provided a loose timeline for the effort, stating that Tier 2 attritable ACPs will form a “critical component of the RAF’s Combat Air Force mix” by 2030.
In July 2025, the UK MoD published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) outlining a two-year (running from April 2027 to 2029) contract opportunity with up to £20 million for Tranche 2 of the ACP effort, seeking a loyal-wingman style, most likely one use drone “designed to operate in collaboration with the fourth-, fifth- and future generations of combat aircraft and to operate from the UK aircraft carriers”. While it does not yet invite bids, it intends to engage with suppliers before formal tendering.
Anglo-German Collaboration
In October 2024, as part of the Trinity House Agreement, the UK and Germany agreed to collaborate on developing advanced UAVs. As stated by the UK Government on 23 October, this collaboration will be achieved in the short term through the joint integration of standard missile systems, such as Brimstone, into drone fleets.
In the medium term, the two countries will jointly explore and develop cross-system Combat Cloud capabilities, new Maritime Uncrewed Air System capabilities, standard offboard systems compatible with respective Future Combat Air Systems and support the implementation of NATO-agreed common standards to ensure connectivity and collaboration between fighter aircraft, reinforcing intergenerational and (un)crewed teaming.
(Potential) Bids & Suppliers
Anduril & Rheinmetall
In August 2025, Breaking Defense contacted several manufacturers about this contract. Anduril UK stated it would be bidding for this effort. At the Paris Air Show 2025, the American Anduril team announced it had partnered with Rheinmetall to develop and manufacture European variants of its Barracuda and Fury systems to bring to European armed forces. As part of the partnership announced between Anduril and Rheinmetall in Paris in 2025, Rheinmetall’s digital sovereign Battlesuite system would be integrated into the European variant of Anduril’s Fury.
BAE Systems
In July 2022, BAE Systems revealed two UAV concepts, one later being branded Concept 2, or the Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP), at DSEI 2023. Shephard believes this drone is very likely to be involved in this effort.
Boeing
In May 2023, Boeing told Shephard that discussions had occurred between it and the UK MoD over whether the MQ-28A Ghost Bat could satisfy the country’s loyal wingman capability. According to Krystle Carr, Boeing’s autonomous collaborative platforms director, these conversations primarily concerned the quantity of UAVs that would be required and questions around domestic production.
At the Paris Air Show 2025, interim president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security (BDS), Steve Parker, once again highlighted the UK as a potential system customer, highlighting the Air Force’s and Royal Navy’s separate requirements for such a system. This assertion came despite the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) viewing the Ghost Bat as a testbed platform, as reported by Shephard, a view that the UK and Boeing itself do not appear to share.
Dynetics & Kratos
In its March 2024 Autonomous Collaboration Platform Strategy, the RAF gave the Gremlin as an example of an Attritable Tier 2 drone. Since the post-Mosquito project falls into Tier 2, it is perhaps noteworthy that the RAF highlighted the Gremlin as its example for this drone tier. Based on this, Shephard believes the UAV could be involved in the programme.
Leonardo
In August 2025, Breaking Defense contacted several manufacturers about this contract. In response, Leonardo stated that the project related to various areas of expertise in which Leonardo had a “strong position”. The firm continued by confirming it was closely evaluating the UK’s ACP requirements.
Spirit AeroSystems
Belfast-based Spirit AeroSystems were the prime contractor for Project Mosquito before its cancellation, with the company ready to build the Mosquito demonstrator. The company told Breaking Defense in August 2025 that it could not confirm any interest in this procurement.
Methodology
PGO
The programme is still in its early stages. Due to this and the fact that the initial effort was cancelled, Shephard believes this announced programme could proceed, giving it a PGO of 50%.
Quantity Required
According to Shephard’s Defence Insight, the UK will have 107 Typhoons (this does not include Typhoon Tranche 1 since it is expected to leave service by 2025) and 138 F-35B fighter jets by around 2030. Even following the Tempest’s proposed replacement of the Typhoon, the RAF will presumably operate around 245 fighter jets.
Since the original LANCA was to be utilised alongside crewed fighters, Shephard could estimate that the UK may have procured up to 245 units of the platform; however, it is far more realistic that the RAF would have only procured half of this number, around 120 units, due to the financial impact of 245 units. Shephard believes this follow-on effort will presumably strive to reach this 120-unit quantity.
Unit Cost
In its ACP strategy, the RAF stated that a Tier 2 platform must be attritable; if lost during a mission, it would not change how the force fights. Based on this assertion, the unit cost will likely be on the lower end of the cost of a loyal wingman drone.
An example of a cost-effective drone of this nature would be Kratos’ XQ-58A Valkyrie UAV. Across two statements from January 2020 and May 2023, Kratos stated that it would have a gross cost of $6.5 million at a low production rate, a cost of $4 million at a high production rate of 50 units a year and could be as low as $2 million if 100 units could be produced per year.
Based on these figures and the required quantity, Shephard estimates that a Tier 2 drone could cost $6.5 million, with a flyaway unit cost of $5.2 million.
Programme Value
A contract for 120 units at the above-estimated gross unit costs would have a forecasted contract value of $780 million.
Programme Years
A timeline for the follow-up programme was always vague; however, as mentioned above, the RAF’s March 2024 ACP strategy shed some light on any potential timeline. It stated that an objective was for Tier 2 attritable ACPs to form a “critical component of the RAF’s Combat Air Force mix” by 2030. However, the PIN announced in July 2025 was dated until April 2029, suggesting a contract award will not come before 2029, suggesting deliveries would start in the 2030s, not before.
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